Multicultural Children’s Book Day Co-Hosts
The following is a list of hand-selected children’s book advocates, writers, and bloggers who work with the MCBD Team by extending the reach and spreading the word of Multicultural Children’s Book Day. They are our CoHosts.
These CoHosts and Global CoHost’s sites will also host the wildly-popular book review/blog post-link-up that occurs during the last week in January. We would appreciate if you could take a few minutes and visit each of these excellent blogs. These reviewers and powerhouse bloggers were selected by the MCCBD team because of their true dedication to supporting diversity in children’s literature.
A Crafty Arab
Koloud Tarapolsi is a Libyan American quilling artist and an Arab world & Muslim cultural blogger on ACraftyArab.com. She creates free crafts, recipes & downloads for kids to educate them about the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. Her blog also includes hundreds of MENA books, reviews, and book lists for educators to use to diversify their libraries and classrooms.
Kay sells handmade Arab crafts and cards to promote a positive image of Arab culture on ACraftyArab.zibbet.com or select stores in Seattle, WA, and Washington, DC. In 2002, Kay created an Arabic Alphabet Animal line that now includes two posters, game cards, magnets, and a coloring book. Kay teaches MENA art education to various schools in the Pacific Northwest and has been an artist in residence in several summer camps. In her spare time, Kay enjoys being a docent at the Seattle Art Museum and in the Spring, Kay takes adults on an Art & Cooking Moroccan educational tour. She is currently writing a children’s picture book on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a shero for her 3 daughters.
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest,
Afsaneh Moradian
Afsaneh Moradian has loved writing stories, poetry, and plays since childhood. After receiving her master’s in education, she took her love of writing into the classroom where she began teaching children how to channel their creativity. Her passion for teaching has lasted for over fifteen years. Afsaneh now guides students and teachers (and her young daughter) in the art of writing.
Afsaneh Moradian is the author of the picture books, Jamie is Jamie: A Book About Being Yourself and Playing Your Way and Jamie and Bubbie: A Book About People’s Pronouns (both from Free Spirit Publishing).
Her book Homeschooling Out of the Box will be available on Amazon and on her website www.afsanehmoradian.com as of Fall 2020.
Connect with Afsaneh via her website or on YouTube and Twitter.
Agatha Rodi Books
Her educational background in teaching students with learning disabilities has given her a broader spectrum from which to approach various learning techniques and expand teaching strategies. She sets up individual teaching programs both in English & French language.
What she enjoys most is writing stories that will encourage students to embrace their imperfections, and ignite their spark.
“Multicultural Books is the best way to promote literacy while embracing language and culture. She considers them as the sole medium to help students respect similarities and understand differences. She believes writing comes from the heart and children’s personal experiences can only transform the world we live in. Current projects involve the setting up of Greek Children Read and Write, a challenging initiative to connect Greek Children around the globe, exchange Greek culture’s uniqueness and promote diversity in the way children see it.”
Connect with Agatha via her Website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
All Done Monkey
Leanna is a stay at home mother to two sweet, funny, rambunctious boys and a sweet baby girl! She draws inspiration from the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith and tries to raise her Monkeys in a fun, spiritual, loving environment. She and her husband, who is from Costa Rica, are raising their boys to be bilingual and bicultural but more importantly to be “world citizens.” All Done Monkey is dedicated to sharing this journey with you! All Done Monkey focuses on multiculturalism, children’s education, natural parenting, and spiritual education.
Leanna is the founder of Multicultural Kid Blogs.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest
Barefoot Mommy
I’m Rebekah. Mommy, kidlit nut, social justice crusader, and your companion on the journey to raising little global citizens who are ready to change the world. From deciding I create a found worker rights nonprofit when I was fresh out of seminary, to helping my5-year-old write a letter to our Senator about ending deportations, I’ve always had this crazy idea that my life could be aligned with my purpose. I believe that as parents, we have a purpose that’s even bigger than helping our kids become successful.
We can help kids discover how to make our world a compassionate and fair place for every child on this planet. We can show them how to become Justice Kiddos.
Bethany Edwards & Biracial Bookworms:
Bethany Edwards is an elementary educator and reading specialist with experience teaching in the US and in international schools. She also offers reading courses for parents/caregivers at Biracial Bookworms Academy. Her goal is to help parents and educators raise readers, activists, and leaders using multicultural and diverse books, culturally rich experiences, and learning multiple languages.
Connect with Bethany on Pinterest Instagram Facebook Twitter Biracial Bookworms Academy, Goodreads
Books My Kids Read & Michelle Goetzl
Michelle is a parent of two girls and a lover of all things children’s literature. Her blog was born out of a need to find appropriate reading material for her advanced reader and has turned into a place to share interesting books that she and her family have found. Michelle’s passion for multi-cultural children’s literature stems from the fact that she is raising her girls to be Jewish in a community where they are in a complete minority as well as having grown up in Los Angeles where multi-cultural was more of the norm. She loves finding books with really strong female characters who stand up to outdated traditions. When not blogging or reading, Michelle is working on her Masters Degree in Information Science and plans to be a Librarian in a school environment.
Crafty Moms Share
Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes:
Frances Evans is a part-time blogger, mommy, and wife of a beautiful multicultural familia. Shortly before her child turned 4 yrs. old she started blogging about discovering the world through her son’s eyes, hence the name of her blog. She loves doing things with her son and became passionate about teaching him to be bilingual, and to identify with his multicultural identity. She writes about heritage, bilingualism, multicultural children’s book and global culture education with lots of hands-on activities and language learning ideas for kids.
GLOBAL Cohost Evi Marami and Let’s Talk About Children
Evi Marami is a qualified educator, holding a Master in Education Psychology (IOE University of London), Ba in Primary Education (Aristotelion University), and in Early Childhood Education and Education Studies (Anglia Ruskin University). Since 2004 she lives and works in London as a Manager in a private nursery school. While in Thessaloniki, where she comes from, she studied and worked as a journalist in radio and tv, also publishing her articles in local papers.
Her first children’s book ‘Bongo the dinosaur/Bongo ο δεινόσαυρος‘, a story about diversity and emotional intelligence is written in English and Greek and includes interactive learning activities for the children.
Evi also provides private Greek tutoring services, EYFS training and is currently working on the completion of a Literacy program named ‘The rhyme project’, aiming to teach the children how to understand and create rhymes, through the story of the ‘A shy little cat‘
Connect with Evi via her website, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Eugenia Chu & Brandon Makes Jiǎo Zi (餃子)
Hi! I’m an attorney, turned stay-at-home mom, turned writer. I am a first-generation Chinese-American citizen and live in Miami Beach with my husband and son, Brandon, who is the inspiration for my stories. When Brandon was very little, I couldn’t find children’s storybooks to read to him which touched upon Chinese culture and which included some Chinese (Mandarin) words and phrases to teach and/or reinforce his Chinese vocabulary, so I started writing my own.
Brandon Makes Jiǎo Zi (餃子) is my first “Brandon” story. It’s a picture book for little ones about a boy bonding with his grandma while making Chinese dumplings, called jiǎo zi (餃子).
Connect with Eugenia via her website, Twitter, and Instagram,
Growing Book by Book
Jodie Rodriguez has a passion for helping caregivers nurture our youngest readers. As a former National Board Certified early childhood, elementary teacher, and administrator, she has worked with thousands of families and educators providing best literacy practices. She lives near St. Louis, Missouri, and now stays home with her two young sons. She is the creator/founder of Growing Book by Book. A blog dedicated to helping caregivers nurture our youngest readers. You will find book lists, book-related activities, and literacy tips and tricks for kids ages 0-8.
Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter
Here Wee Read:
I’m Charnaie, and I love to read! In my previous life (before children) I used to read 20 – 30 books a year. Now I have to work at it to read two (adult) books a month unless you count all the books I read to my children and such, in which case I read hundreds of books a year. Since children love repetition many of the books are just the same ones over and over and over (Haha!) I’m a Computer Programmer by education. I have over 15 years of experience in the Information Technology field. I have both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science/Information Technology. I’m also a Distinguished Toastmaster something which I’m very proud of. I like connecting people with books they’ll love. I enjoy both fiction and nonfiction books. I read mostly genre non-fiction, fiction (mysteries and sci-fi) and young adult fiction, but I do branch out beyond that occasionally.
In nonfiction, I love biographies and memoirs, personal development, history, Christian living, and parenting books, but I don’t limit myself to those categories; I’m very willing to read about other topics if the writing is engaging.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, website.
Jennifer Brunk & Spanish Playground
Jennifer Brunk writes about teaching Spanish to children on her blog Spanish Playground. She focuses on communicative teaching and authentic language materials. Jennifer raised her three children speaking English and Spanish and has been teaching Spanish to young world citizens for over twenty years. The challenge of finding quality resources inspired her to create Spanish Playground, a place teachers and parents can turn to for support, strategies, and materials.
Social Media Links: Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram
Julie Yeros & Globe Trottin’ Kids
Maria Wen Adcock and Bicultural Mama
MaryAnne Ko & Mama Smiles-Joyful Parenting
MaryAnne was raised in five countries on three continents. She currently lives in California with her husband and their four children. MaryAnne blogs at Mama Smiles about building a rewarding family life through mindful parenting and educational and creative family activities. MaryAnne has a Masters in education and Ph.D. in medicine. She enjoys freelance writing and photography.
Connect with Mama Smiles on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram,
Miss Panda Chinese
Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett inspires children to fall in love with learning Chinese language and culture. She is the author of the “Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda!” audio album and the host for Playful Chinese podcast. Amanda is also a trained Chinese language instructor and the mother of two bilingual children. She has extensive Mandarin Chinese and ESL teaching experience with kids and business professionals in Taiwan, Morocco, Canada, Ecuador, and the United States. Her students call her “Miss Panda!”
You can find Miss Panda’s engaging, playful, and interactive Chinese language learning resources at MissPandaChinese.com. She currently lives in Washington D.C. with her family, including two lovely trilingual cats, Qwerty and Bella, as well as a bilingual bird, Lemon.
Website | album | Playful Chinese Podcast | Facebook | Youtube | Linkedin
Multicultural Kid Blogs
Multicultural Kid Blogs is a supportive community that brings together parents, educators, bloggers, writers, and artists from across the world. Our mission is to inspire and support parents, caregivers, and educators raising the next generation of global citizens through arts, activities, crafts, food, language, and love. We do this by creating educational and parenting content that celebrates global cultures, languages, and belief systems and by promoting diversity in all its forms while recognizing our common concerns and dreams for our children.
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram
Serge Smagarinsky {Australia}
Serge Smagarinsky {@PictureBK Serge} is a picture book bibliophile and writer. He is currently working on several manuscripts and is also putting together an illustration portfolio.
Serge studied picture book writing at the Australian Writers Centre, as well as learning through countless workshops, conferences, books, and critique partners. He was a winner of the pitching competition at the Creative Kids Tale festival in 2019, and the #50PreciousWords contest in 2018.
Serge writes sophisticated picture books to evoke feelings, provoke thoughts, and inspire action. With formal qualifications including a BE, BCom, and MBA, he relies on his solution design background to help his characters resolve their challenges.
Serge lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife, two kids and pet cavoodle. He is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA), and is active in social media groups.
Connect with Serge via his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest
GLOBAL CoHost Sahar Reiazi
Shauna Hibbitts and eNannyLink
Shauna Hibbitts is a bilingual (Spanish) Early Childhood Specialist of over 25 plus years. Her passion and love for families and children inspired her to create eNannylink. eNannylink is an online platform that offers comprehensive tools on everything childcare. Her YouTube channel offers parenting tip videos, stories, and activities for children. She recently launched her online membership site community called “The Parenting Lounge.” A safe space that inspires, and empowers like-minded Moms on their parenting journey. She is the Author of “My Mismatched Socks” children’s book coming soon Fall 2020.
Website- https://www.eNannylink.com
Children’s YouTube Channel Storytime with Mrs. Shauna https://youtu.be/hOfC2yYS3z4
FB- http://www.facebook.com/eNannylink1
Instagram Http://www.instagram.com/Mrs_Shauna_
Shearin Lee & Joy Sun Bear
The Joy Sun Bear initiative strives for a world where children will feel safe sharing their diversity and uniqueness because they accept others with respect and kindness. The Joy Sun Bear book series is available on Amazon and on the Joy Sun Bear website.
Shearin is the Creative Director of Joy Sun Bear and works from home, caring for her creative 10-year-old daughter. Shearin was born in America and grew up in a multicultural environment with parents of Iranian descent. As a first-generation Iranian-American, Shearin can speak both Farsi and English and loves infusing both heritages into her family’s culture. She is also part of a multicultural team for Joy Sun Bear, who published their first children’s chapter book in a series for kids 6-12 years of age on Amazon. Her team is currently writing the second book in the series and a social-emotional journal to help children cope with COVID.
She values giving back through her work and volunteering at her daughter’s elementary school. Her goal for Joy Sun Bear is to help kids feel comfortable with who they are, explore new friendships with others who are different, and help the world connect and create a sense of unity by learning about each other’s cultures. Their website offers free resources, activities, crafts, recipes, videos, and games for children and classrooms to learn about the world, diverse cultures, and social-emotional values. They also offer a comprehensive reading guide that is a companion to their first book. This fun, the no-hassle guide was created with the help of a 5th-grade educator and her students with the goal to enhance the learning experience, empower children to be global citizens, and think outside the box.
Shoumi Sen
Shoumi Sen is the creator of “From The Toddler Diaries”, a series of children’s books on Indian culture and mythology. Her beautifully illustrated picture books ‘Celebrate Holi With Me!’ and ‘Celebrate Durga Puja With Me!’ have received rave reviews from kids and parents alike and she is getting ready to launch her next book, ‘Celebrate Onam With Me!’
Shoumi is a Strategy, Sales and Marketing professional at a global energy management company. She studied engineering at BITS Pilani and The University of Maryland, College Park, and lives in California with her husband and daughter. Her childhood in Paris, Bombay, and Dubai provided her with opportunities to appreciate how Indians preserve their cultural connectedness even while living abroad.
In Shoumi’s words, “Living outside India, it is sometimes tough for parents to ensure that their children remain connected to their Indian roots, while at the same time, appreciating the culture of the place they are growing up in. Books can certainly help with that challenge and my hope is that ‘From The Toddler Diaries’ can play a part in helping our children grow into global citizens.”
Connect with Shoumi via her website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
GLOBAL CoHost Svenja Gernand and Colours of Us {South Africa}
Svenja is an adoptive mom and social worker, originally from Germany, living in South Africa. As a mom and adoptive mom of two little black girls, she always searches for multicultural children’s books that have a positive message, and that does not support stereotypes. She shares her findings on her website, Colours of Us.
Svenja is passionate about promoting diversity in children’s literature and toys. She believes that all children deserve to see themselves reflected in the books they read and the toys they play with. Because representation matters!
Connect with Colours of Us via her website that is filled with wonderful diverse booklists, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram
GLOBAL CoHost Taruna Kapoor {India}
I am a Principal and an administrator in India with an experience of more than 20 years. I currently work in a countryside school and am a mentor to wonderful and curious students. I have been associated with Microsoft since 2018 and have completed more than 150 courses, owing to which I have been awarded the title of “Microsoft Innovative Expert”. I am a certified National Geographic Educator and a certified Apple Teacher. I have been associated with these institutions and have worked hard towards learning innovative techniques by collaborating with people all around the world to help my students become ‘global citizens’.
Owing to the collaborations with fellow educators on Microsoft, my students and I have broken through the rudimentary classrooms and generalized syllabus. In addition to the general books issued by the school as per the syllabus, I encourage my students to read multicultural books, which is the best way to promote literacy by knowing the culture and language of people around the world. I also encourage my students to improve their creative writing skills by making them work on comprehensions, creative writing, and various other activities. This initiative is based on the thought that ‘A child who reads will be an adult who thinks’.
My passion for teaching and learning has brought me where I am today. I have grown and evolved from a kindergarten teacher to a leader with the love and passion for my work and kids.
Twitter: @TarunaK7864372
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/taruna-kapoor-57ab1834
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taruna.kapoor.5
Instagram: Taruna_Kapoor
